It Was Only A Game
by freekenjenny
Summary: Eight high school friends set out to play a game which regrettably sets the foundation for the annihilation of Earth. With their previous lives left in shambles, their only option left is to play.
1. Cookies and Playground Fights

Chapter 1: Cookies and Playground Fights

"So uh, when do you think this shit is gonna kick in?" stammered Kyle against the steering wheel as he shoved a handful of Doritos in the general direction of his face. By now those magical pastries that Evan had cooked up for them were now working at full force, but he wasn't going to be the first of the two to accept defeat.

"Hey fucker I asked you a ques-"

"Shhhhhh, hold the fuck up dude", whispered Evan in a hushed tone as he pressed a finger to Kyle's lips to silence him. He had a solemn face on as he stared straight ahead, lacking his trademark smile. "Now don't get me wrong man, I know you were saying some fascinating shit just now but-"

"But what?"

"But before you say anything else I have some really important shit to say. Have you ever and I mean like ever, taken a good look at the back of my left hand?" exclaimed Evan as waved the back of his hand to Kyle's face, "You see that there? I just found a scar that I've never noticed before and it's kinda giving me mixed emotions man."

Kyle was confused about Evan's sudden infatuation with his left hand. There wasn't even a scar on the back of his hand, he was pretty sure Evan was just seeing things. There was no way Kyle was going to even spend remote amount of time having a conversation about an imaginary scar in the back of Evan's hand.

"That's not a scar on your hand dumbass", replied Kyle as he slapped Evan's hand away, "You were scribbling on your hand literally minutes ago and then forgot what you were even doing in the first place."

"Oooohhhh", let out Evan in realization. With one quick glance to each other the boys broke out laughing, slapping their laps as they gasped for air. Wiping away a couple of tears that sneaked up in Kyle, he sat in the car in complete bliss as he realized where they were supposed to already be.

"Hey don't you think it would be a good idea to possibly start heading to school by now? We've already hot boxed the car and ate those damn cookies you made."

"All in due time my friend; I just wanna look at that bird for a while", smiled Evan.

"Listen man, I just don't wanna push my luck you know? I have to be able to at least hold my pen right and make eye contact with Lexi while I try and copy her work", pressed on Kyle, "Not to mention we have to tell the others about that new game Skianet is just released, and I'm quite sure it'll be kinda hard to explain them the whole situation without sounding like fucking morons."

"Dang man chill out, you don't gotta be so damn anxious." replied Evan. That boy didn't give a care in the world, and if anyone was with him, chances are that they'll soon stop giving a shit as well. "If we're late then we're late, there won't be a single thing we'll be able to do about it." Kyle unknowingly stared at Evan while trying to figure out why he was so sure about himself. They were going to be late as hell; there was no doubt about it. Yet, there was something that made Kyle thought otherwise. Instead of getting to school on time they just sat there, watching, waiting.

"Hey man when are we leaving again?" babbled Evan.

"You were the one that said we had more than enough time", accused Kyle.

"Uh no, I never said that."

"Oh, shit."

Without a moment's hesitation Kyle retrieved the car keys from his sylladex and turned on the car's engine, making his way to school. Kyle was still pondering over how easily Evan trusted him with his car. _"I just believe I can trust you man"_, he would say with a wide grin spread across his face. Evan had a knack for trusting people and somehow making the right choice by doing so.

"Hey Evan?"

"Yeah dude?"

"So uh you've mentioned that game to me a number of times already, but what exactly is that game you've been obsessing over even about? You haven't even played it, yet you've been getting so hyped over it", said Kyle

"I don't know much about it other than it was made by Skianet and that it's crucial that we play it. I was actually lucky enough to get a free copy", added Evan with unnecessary joy. Why was he so excited over how little information he obtained over a game he knew nothing about? Why was he so accepting of everything and never questioned a single thing in his life ever? The world may never know.

"If you already have your own copy then how come you haven't played it already and find out what's the deal with it? How did you even get a free copy?" exclaimed Kyle. Evan was his best bro, he really was, but he didn't understand half of the shit that went through his mind.

"Hey man no need to get hostile! The reason I haven't played it was because it's multiplayer game only. I needed more people to play with and Lexi said that the more people you play with the better so I was just waiting until the whole lot of us to get the copy", replied Evan.

"Sorry about that", apologized Kyle, "So it was Lexi who had given you the game? I didn't now she was into playing the video games?"

"Well she really isn't, but there was something about this game that seemed important to her so I thought what the hell. Besides she's pretty chill and I was curious about playing the game nonetheless." Soon after the conversation died out and nothing was said for the longest time. Not that it bothered either one of them. They were both too high to even give a shit about the silence; they just wanted to get to school already.

After another 10 minutes of mediocre driving, they both arrived at the school parking lot with more than enough time to spare. Getting out of the car was more than a challenge, considering how off the chart they both were. Kyle had to put on his favorite pair of shades if he wanted to make it inside the building without getting bombarded with the sudden intensity of the light.

"Do you think Lexi will let me copy her work without lecturing me this time? I wouldn't be able to stand another of her rants about how I'm so irresponsible and how I'm so lucky she doesn't give a shit or whatever. It's getting kind of tiring to be honest", whined Kyle. Never has he once in the school year done any of his physics assignments. After all, what was the point of doing them if Lexi was always going to come through with the work?

"Maybe if you did it on your own she wouldn't be lecturing you all the time."

"Whatever man, I'll just pester her to see if she's a willing participant today", replied Kyle.

- _prosperousCaballero [PC] began pestering astroVisionary [AV] at 8:36 am_ -

PC: yo lexi

PC: hey lex answer will ya

PC: goddamn it

AV: What is it now?

PC: good you answered I need a favor

AV: This has to do the physics assignment doesn't it?

PC: actually yea it kinda does

AV: Well that's just too bad because I chose not to do it this time. I have better things to do than to dwell in the matters of elastic forces.

PC: fuck

AV: Has Evan talked to you about Sburb yet?

PC: is that the game you want us to play so bad

AV: Yes, yes it is. It's really important you play it with the seven of us.

PC: seven of us? Who the fuck else is playin

AV: That's not important right now. I gave Abby 3 copies of the game. One of those copies is yours too keep.

PC: holy fuck why are you giving us free games all a sudden

AV: Please don't ask questions concerning my intentions with this game.

PC: alright fuck

AV: Very well then, I'll see you in class :)

- _astroVisionary [AV] ceased pestering prosperousCaballero [PC] at 8:43__am _–

"Well that was a huge waste of time. She didn't do the fucking work and now Mrs. Park will have my head." complained Kyle. Evan couldn't help but to laugh at him and his misfortune.

"What's so fucking funny?" demanded Kyle in a failed attempt. Evan's laughter was so contagious that he couldn't help but to laugh along with him.

"Hey guys!" called out a meek voice from across the parking lot. Abby was heading towards them with what seemed as concern plastered all across her face. Both Evan and Kyle were waiting for the other half of Abby to appear out of nowhere like she was best known for, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm so glad I found you guys", Abby said. Abby was one of Evan's childhood friends that he met in his 3rd grade class. She was so meek and mild as a child that she was often a victim of the other children's bullying. For the longest time he was her only friend and emotional support until she had met her other half, Eryn. Eryn and Abby's personalities opposed each other's in any way possible. Abby was a sweetheart, and soft-spoken while Eryn was assertive and harsh spoken. Their friendship made no sense to others whatsoever.

"What's going on?" asked Kyle with concern in his voice.

"Have you guys seen Eryn anywhere? She was with me when I was putting some things away in her car and when I turned around she was gone. I really hope she hasn't put herself in trouble, again.

"Well what do you think she did now?" asked Evan in return. There was no point in questioning why she taught Eryn was in trouble. Eryn was notorious for getting into fights with others or constantly arguing with teachers. Her getting into trouble was no surprise to them at all.

"Uh well, one of the seniors pushed me aside because I was walking to slow which caused me to fall and drop everything I had. Eryn confronted him but I managed to lure her away into her car and allow her to let off some stream, but I guess she sneaked away from me when I was looking away and… well I think she wants to punch that senior in the throat."

"Well that's great, serves the asshole right. I'm sure Eryn can take care of herself" confided Kyle. The relationship between him and Eryn was extremely tense, and she never missed a chance to insult him in the most horrendous way possible, but he still considered her a friend. A really fucked up friend.

"It's not that I'm worried about her taking care of herself its-", Abby tried to explain as she was interrupted. From across the lot and into the courtyard there was a herd of people attracted to two figures like a swarm of flies, one of those figures closely resembling Eryn.

"Hey asshole this is the last fucking time I'm going to ask you. Are you or are you not going to fucking apologize to her?"

"I don't know what your fucking problem is, but I'm not going to apologize to that dumb bitch. She had it coming when she was just walking there being useless. I'm a busy man dammit."

"How _dare _you have the audacity to talk about her that way?"

"Oh whatever just piss off."

The ferocity in Eryn's eyes was unfathomable. In was one thing to insult her and try to get away with it, but it was a whole different thing when they dared to even speak ill of Abby. With one quick swing Eryn managed to sock the senior on his jaw. He was just as surprised as everyone else around them that she was fast enough to catch him with his guard down. But now that the element of surprise was no longer on her side she was unsure of what to do next. At first she didn't think she would actually pull through with the punch but now that it was done there was nothing much else she could do. "Oh fuck it", she whispered to herself as a sly smile crept up on her lips.

Without a moment's thought she leaped towards him, managing to take him down with her as they plummeted to the ground. Landing on top of him gave her an advantage. One after another, furious fists pounded the flesh of the senior on the ground whom at the time was only able to fend off the punches directed at his face. After no more than 30 seconds Kyle and Evan had managed to push through the crowd and remove the threat from the seniors now bloodied up face.

"Jesus fucking Christ Eryn what the fuck are you doing!" shouted Kyle over the sound of yapping high schoolers.

"None of your goddamn business that's what. Get your hands off me", barked Eryn.

"Come on let's get out of here, I don't want to be around when any of the teachers come around to ask who did this", exclaimed Eryn as she took off inside. Following right behind her were Evan and Kyle, who were still processing the whole incident, with Abby right behind them. After making their way into the cafeteria and finding a secluded table, they all sat down as no one spoke to each other. Every other second Abby would shoot Eryn a worried look, having the intention to ask her why she did that, but she knew she would come up with an excuse to avoid answering, so she didn't even bother.

"Are you assholes just going to sit there or are you going to say something?" hissed Eryn to the other three. Evan and Kyle were still in shock after the incident, and their hazed minds weren't doing much at helping them out either. Neither one of them wanted to say something that would piss her off, but keeping quiet would also make her mad so there was no way they weren't getting out of this one unless someone came up with something quick.

"Oh Kyle, I just remembered that Lexi asked me to give you this", chirped Abby as she handed Kyle two disks with the Skia logo on them, "This is Sburb, Lexi wanted the eight of us to have our own copy of the game. I'm not entirely sure why she wanted all of us to play it, but it seems innocent enough and also kind of fun."

Kyle stared at the discs on the table and worked up all his strength to create a coherent sentence. "Uh, thanks Abby… I uh, appreciate it, yeah. Hey uh that reminds me, Eryn do you already have the game?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I do I had Leon order copies for Kate and myself a while ago, so they should arrive any day now", she replied venomously.

The sudden remark prevented Kyle from speaking any further and Evan couldn't find a way to bring back the conversation without sounding like a complete asshat.

"Well you guys are boring as dicks, I'm out of here", announced Eryn. Rapidly after her was Abby, already knowing what Eryn was thinking of doing.

"Eryn where are you going?" asked Abby.

"I don't know, away? I'm really not in the mood to put with self-pitying teachers who blame us for running their lives."

"Wait let me go with you."

"Abby no, you can't skip class"

"Why not? You do it all the time and go off and do your thing while I stay here and worry sick for you because I'm not sure whether you're just at home playing Smash Brothers or getting yourself arrested because you wrote fuck the police on a cop's car"

"Okay that was only once and that cop gave me a dirty look so he had it coming. It's not like I'm planning to bash somebody's face in again, I just wanna drive around you know? You have to stay here and fill that little noggin of yours with more knowledge", she said as she tapped Abby's forehead with her index finger. Abby had a sour face on as if she couldn't believe she would just leave her here after what had just happened. What was Eryn's problem? All she ever did was leave while nobody was looking and sneak up on other people and brush off situations as if nothing ever fucking happened. She knew that if she wanted to convince Eryn to take her with her, shed have to come up with a believable excuse.

"Listen Eryn, you perfectly know well just as much as I do that skipping class is not the most brightest thing to do, but it's fun exciting and its definitely not something my mother would approve of and -", pleaded Abby as she was interrupted by a single wave of Eryn's hand.

"All you had to say was that your mother didn't approve and I would've been sold. Now come on let's go, but only this once okay? Hey Kyle, if anyone asks where we are, just try to bore them to death with your self-involving stories so that they regret even asking you, alright?" taunted Eryn as she was leaving the cafeteria with Abby just ahead of her.

As the girls walked away, the boys sat there, stunned in silence.

"Looks like she still holds a grudge towards you", pointed out Evan, "What exactly did you do to her that made her loathe you so much?"

"I wished I fucking knew."


	2. Beethoven at Night

Chapter 2: Beethoven at Night

"So is there anywhere in particular that you wanna go?" Eryn asked to Abby as she drove out the school parking lot, fiddling with her car radio at the same time.

"Actually", piped out Abby, "I was thinking of going and checking on Andy. He hasn't showed up to school in days and I'm beginning to worry."

"Alright so Andy's it is"

As Eryn drove down the road, she would often make unnecessarily long stops in order to make the cars behind her enraged '_Hope you assholes are late' _she thought to herself. Neither one of them spoke to each other; the only noise heard was coming from the radio, Raining Blood by Slayer to be exact. Abby broke the silence by facing Eryn and asking her a question which has been on her mind for the last couple of days.

"You've been having those nightmares again, haven't you?"

Eryn's hands tensed along the steering wheel as she heard the words spill out of Abby. She knew she would notice. She was such a fool believing otherwise

"What makes you think that?" Eryn said, purposefully denying the situation.

"Your sudden violent outbursts, suddenly secluding yourself and making yourself invisible to others, Eryn I've seen it happen before and it's just like those other times. You've been behaving yourself for the past year that I finally believed you were over them. Why didn't you tell me you've been having again? Why would you hide that from me?"

"These dreams are just things you shouldn't worry about. There my problems and I need to solve them on my own."

"Well you're a fucking idiot because you perfectly know well I will stand with you through all of your problems Eryn", Abby shouted.

Eryn was shocked at how demanding Abby had just sounded. This was so unlike her, and yet, she understood her concern for her. She just couldn't make Abby bear what she was going through. She could never understand. Eryn didn't know what to say to her, so all she did was drive and drive until they finally arrived in front of Andy's apartment complex, which looked desolate and off putting.

"Well we're finally here; let's go check on Andy shall we?"

"Not so fast Eryn, I still think we need to talk about these nightmares you've had"

"What is there to speak about?" broke out Eryn, her voice slightly cracking, "So what if I have nightmares, there are just nightmares and nothing more."

"Yet the still terrorize you. I've known you for the past 8 years and never have you once tried to tell me what you even dream about. All you ever do is avoid my questions and change the conversation to a different topic, and for years I've let it happen, and I'm so tired of watching you suffer and I think it's time you've told me what has been going on", pled Abby.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Fine, where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning", and don't leave a single detail out."

Eryn gripped tight to the steering wheel, looking out straight ahead, mulling over where she should start. She was now regretting bringing her along, but there was nothing she could do about so she might as well have to get over it.

"Well as you know, I've been having these hellish dreams since I was just a little tyke."

"And..?"

"…and they're hellish"

"Eryn…"

"Listen, I can't do this not now."

"Why not?" Abby inquired.

"Because dammit! I don't want to go and search in the deepest parts of my mind where these hellish nightmares are stored away okay! I wouldn't be able to handle it, I'm just not ready."

"When will you be ready then?"

"I don't think I'll ever be."

Silence echoed back and forth between the two. Not being a ble to stand the maddening sound of nothing, Eryn hopped out of her car and began heading into the apartment complex where she and Abby were meant to check on Andy.

"Hey where are you going?" inquired Abby as she began opening the car door.

"Where does it look like I'm going? Obviously to check on this asshole."

"Do you even know where he lives?

"Of course I do! He lives in those apartments there" said Eryn as she pointed ahead of her. She had no clue which exact apartment it was, but her pride was at stake here and she didn't want Abby to be right, again.

The girls walked up a set of stairs and walked down an aisle with plain gray doors that looked cold to the touch as the early sun shined above them. Having walked by 4 doors already Abby halted and lightly knocked on the door in order to make minimal amount of sound. No one was answering the door, it made Eryn doubt that he was really there, but Abby hanged on to the slightest shiver of hope and knocked again, this time much more louder.

"Abby I don't think he's here, maybe we should just go", said Eryn with a slight sound of disappointment in her voice. She was actually content about being able to see Andy after what felt like years. He was such an easy guy to talk to, if you didn't mind the extreme sarcasm behind everything he ever says.

"I know he's in there, he's probably just asleep, or in the shower."

"How about you try opening the door with force?"

"Eryn that's rude!"

"Just stand aside."

Eryn wasn't sure how she was going to make that door open with just raw brutality, it looked pretty sturdy as if it didn't want to budge. If she could only just, reach over and…

"Yo its unlocked", marveled Eryn as she turned the knob and let herself in. As Abby made her cheery way in like she owned the place, Eryn slowly closed the door behind her and began snooping around. This place certainly was interesting, what with all the anime figurines scattered around the place, still inside their original packaging. There was a hell of a mess along the living room floor. '_Is that a volume of Inuyasha on the fucking floor?'_ thought Eryn to herself. She was prepared to look around more until she heard arguing coming from one of the rooms.

"What the fuck are you guys doing here?"

"We just came by to check on you, please don't get mad at us!" pleaded Abby with her hands balled up in her chest.

"We? Us? Who else is here with you?"

"Hey", casually added Eryn as she entered the room, " No need to get mad big boy it's just us two."

"Oh, hi Eryn."

"What's up man?"

Nothing was said for nearly 20 seconds. All Eryn and Andy did was stare at each other. Eryn with mischief and Andy with awe, all while Abby looked around the room and focused her gaze at something in particular that were placed next to his bed.

"Andy, have you been drinking this whole time?" inquired Abby as she held two empty bottles of beer in both her hands. Those weren't the only bottles in the room; there were actually many bottles lazily placed all over the room; under the bed, on his night stand, hell, there were even some in his closet. It had just taken Abby a while to notice due to the lack of light in the room.

Andy was unable to look at Abby and answer her. He knew that no matter what he said there was no way he would be getting out of this one without getting lectured about how alcohol isn't the answer. Slowly looking up at her, he licked his lips and nodded his head.

"Why would you do this? I thought I've told you that alcohol shouldn't be abused in this form! " exclaimed Abby.

'_Here we go again' _thought Andy to himself.

"You can't just keep doing this to yourself! You have to go to school for crying out loud! Staying home and drinking until you pass out shouldn't be more important than going to school! Why do you do this?" exclaimed Abby.

"Why, you ask? Well it's quite simple actually. I stopped caring. I stopped caring a long time ago and I thought it was time to just let fate take control from here on out. Drinking is quite fun actually when I do it for the sole purpose of filling the void in my heart. And it's not like that's the only thing I do, Abby. I do listen to Beethoven in the dark when I'm too drunk to turn on the TV or figure out how the shower works. It's quite a wonderful feeling actually. I highly recommend it."

Abby sharply exhaled and stared at Andy with sheer disappointment. His words stung and after Eryn refused to explain her situation she felt like she was no longer wanted and quickly left the room before the first set of tears began forming trails down her cheeks. Eryn staring blankly at Andy decided this was more than a good enough time to speak up.

"That wasn't cool man."

"Yeah whatever, just leave and let me sleep through my life dammit."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"You made Abby upset. And when Abby is upset there will be hell to pay. Lucky for you I actually think you're pretty cool so I'm going to let you go with a warning, for now."

"Wow Eryn, you're right! I've learned from my mistakes and now I know that drinking is the only way I'll be able to handle people who don't know jack shit about my life. Thanks Eryn!"

"No need to be a sarcastic asshole, I'm just trying to help you know. School is kind of important I you want to get somewhere in life."

"I don't need a criminal lecturing me about how important school is. I don't even understand why you even bother going to school anyways. Last time I checked you were on the verge of failing most of your classes. You care just as much as I do."

"Wow you really are an idiot aren't you?"

"Huh?"

"I don't go to school because I care about my education. Quite frankly I don't give a damn, but if I didn't go I know I'd make Abby upset, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for that."

"I don't understand what your point is."

"Oh my god," sighed Eryn as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "what I'm trying to say is, if you can't go to school for yourself, then at least do it for her. It will bring her peace of mind and make her worried about one less thing. You care for her right? Can you promise me you can do that?

Andy lifted himself off the bed and faced Eryn, doing his best to keep eye contact. There were days where if the room didn't have proper lighting, Eryn's eyes could be perceived with such depth and mystery. Often at times, if the light reflected off her eyes correctly, the color of her irises appeared in such and intense and deep navy blue that would always catch him off guard. Today was one of those days. His broad shoulders and ridiculous height made Eryn appear like an ant. This didn't seem to affect her at all though; she still stood tall with her arms folded across her chest as she awaited an answer from him.

"I suppose I can do that for her."

"Thank you", lulled Eryn as a smile was formed, "Now would you please put some pants on for fucks sake."


	3. Concerning Angsty Teenagers

Chapter 3: Concerning Angsty Teenagers

The thunderous sound of baseball bats being struck echoed throughout field. The sound of cheers and cries boomed over the barely audible thunder. April weather was just on the verge of striking as menacing thunderclouds loomed over the city as if signaling the rest of the unresponsive world of their very presence.

"Kate I don't know why you brought me here", whined Leon, "There could be a million things I could be doing at this very moment, but instead you drag me to a damn baseball game in the middle of lunch. What is wrong with you?"

"Okay hun first of all, this don't count as an actual game. Is just a whole bunch of random juniors playing ball with one another, 'kay? Now come on and quit arguing with me will ya? I only brought you here on Lexi's request, so try not to get too whiny 'bout it, please?" quaked Kate. Earlier that day Lexi had pestered Kate about everyone's whereabouts. Kate had promised to find anyone she could and bring them to The Spot behind the Shit Shack. Unfortunately Kate wasn't any good at finding people, and with her luck she had just barely managed to convince Leon to go with her upon request. Leon wasn't too happy to be disrupted in the middle of a 'very serious' conversation with some of his buddies in class. Sometimes the discussion of the female anatomy was ranked as the most important topic at this school. It truly disgusted Kate to no end knowing that the boys at schools spend countless hours talking about the perfect ass to boob ratio.

"Sorry I didn't mean to upset you, I just thought more of us would actually be here not just the two of us."

"I'm sure they'll get here. Eventually", doubted Kate. She hated believing that others would just ditch her like that. It's not like she was that easy to forget, right? "All we gotta do is wait for them just a little while more, so just enjoy yourself while you're here alright?"

"If I don't die of boredom first."

"Leon!"

"Oh come on Kate, we both know the real reason you're here. You wanna gawk at the cute baseball players, huh? See something you like Kate?" teased Leon.

"You're wrong there hun, watchin' these players do their thing don't make me feel joy or something'. They're actually making me kinda sad."

"How so?" inquired Leon.

"Well you see they're not even swingin' the bat right! You see that boy over there with the cute little nose? He ain't bending his knees enough and he's letting the bat hang lazily over his shoulder. Talk about disrespect to America's favorite pastime."

"Only you would bother about silly things such as those. If you care so much about baseball why don't you just join the damn team?"

"As much as I'd like to I still prefer to be a theater dork than to be some jock. Besides, I'm just not cut out for sports, ya know?"

"No I don't know."

"Well you will know soon, trust me."

Time ticked by and no one said a word. Kate sang songs and Leon regarded in awe at a worker ants that had smuggled a couple Dorito chips.

"Definitely nacho cheese", nodded Leon in approval.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kate.

"It's a classical case of a demanding monarchy. The peasants, or in this case the worker ants, have to comply to all of the demands of the queen. Then probably fuck her later on", smirked Leon.

Lunch dreaded on and Kate felt the April humidity sneak around and torment her comfort. Feeling defeated, Leon rose from his spot and wiped his hands clean on his pants.

"Sorry Kate, _pero,_ I kinda need to go. I haven't had food all day", spoke up Leon with a stupid grin on his face, "I'm so fucking hungry, _mucha hambre,_ you know?"

"Dang _Leon, _you even procrastinate eating! There's gotta be somethin' wrong with ya boy."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to say my name in Spanish!"

"Dang, I'm sorry alright? I jus think is kinda cute that ya name is lion in Spanish."

"Damn right it is!" snapped Leon, "You know what else it means? It means that I have the abilities of a lion as well!" beamed Leon as he pretended to flex and woo Kate.

"If you obtain certain characteristics of a lion, when it comes to their persona, does it mean you're as yellow as them as well?" spoke a familiar voice from the entrance of under the bleachers. "I suppose it also means that you're bloody lazy and prefer to let the women do all the work, correct?"

Leon looked behind him and in that instant his grin dropped. He was hoping he wouldn't have to confront or even glance at her today.

"Damn Lexi why do you have to ruin my vibe?" whined Leon.

"No you're most certainly wrong", corrected Lexi, "I did no such thing as ruin your vibe, I just simply pointed out the possibilities you were already trying to represent. It's not my fault that you subconsciously agreed to them."

Leon was unable to come up with a creative comeback, being slow witted did have its downsides. Refusing to be Lexi's target no more, Leon sat down on his usual spot under some shade; a nice patch of grass that never seemed to die.

"Is it really just the two of you?" asked Lexi, "I was expecting at least idiotic duo to be with you guys, but I suppose I can't really have such high expectations for a pair of morons who can't even write or manage to stay awake during class. Did I tell you what those two idiots did this morning? They stumble into class 10 minutes late and blame the freshmen for being tardy because they have to wait for them to walk faster or some bullshit like that. Those two really need to set their priorities straight. But anyways that's not what I came here for. I couldn't find Eryn and Abby at all this morning, but based on the rumors that I've heard throughout the school, she must've been the one who decided to get into a fight with one of the seniors. Seriously what is up with that girl? One of these days she's going to get herself arrested, or even worse _killed_ over something so barbaric. Well Leon at least I'm glad you showed up with Kate. Hey Leon?"

Although Lexi was directly talking to him, he was paying her no attention whatsoever. After knowing Lexi for the past 3 years he had mastered the art of tuning her out whenever she began ranting about others. It truly was a rewarding skill. Snapping back into reality, Leon had make himself look like he was paying attention, which was no simple task when it involved Lexi and her cunning death stare.

"Listen Lex, I totally agree with you. Like 100% percent."

"Whatever, anyways… I have a favor to ask of you two."

"Sure what is it?" asked Kate

"Well the first part isn't much of favor but more of an informal invitation. My father has finally furnished the new house and all and I'd like if you guys came over tomorrow Saturday as a little get together with the rest of us."

"Will there be booze and bud?" inquired Leon.

"Leon please, what kind of host would I be if there wasn't?" reassured Lexi.

"Well you can count me in. just make sure there's a nice dry place I can pass out at. I'm pretty light weight if you haven't noticed", joked Leon.

"Oh trust me I'm quite aware of this physical liability of yours others like to refer to as being scrawny. I'll make sure to add a nice blanket in there to in order to avoid any discomfort."

"Wow Lex there's no need for you to be a bitch."

"I'd like it if you'd shut that trap of yours by shoving a- ."

"Guys!" interjected Kate, "Will ya both stop arguin' over nonsense! Lexi I know ya had anotha purpose when ya asked us to come here other than to tell us to hang out with ya tomorrow, right?"

"Actually", admitted Lexi, "I need you guys to skip school on Monday."

"How come?" asked Kate.

"I have various reasons as to why I'm asking you guys to do so. Reasons which I cannot properly explain due to the circumstances, but I ask both of you to trust me on this", pleaded Lexi.

"Maybe if you explained yaself some then maybe I'd be more willing to go along with whatcha asking of me", added Kate.

"Listen", began Lexi, "I know I'm well known for going on into tangents that explain everything that is going on around me. I tend to do this because I made a personal rule that I would never leave anyone wondering as to why things occurred. That being said, I am going to have to break said rule this one time and this one time only. The size of the matter is far too great and I choose to believe that there is a time and a place for me to be able to explain this to you guys. This is why I'm asking you guys to be at my house tomorrow, that way everyone will be there so that proper explanations can commence."

"Whoa okay id didn't understand a single thing you just said", admitted Leon, "can you like not rush your words or something?"

"Oh it's okay Leon, I didn't expect you to understand either way", snapped back Lexi.

"Hey Lexi", spoke up Kate as she placed a supportive hand on her shoulder," you don't gotta explain yourself if you don't wanna. You look stressed enough as it is, so how about we all just agree to your terms and not make such a huge deal out of everything?"

"Thank you Kate, I appreciate it."

"Hate to kill the mood or anything", interrupted Leon," but what you're asking of me is ridiculous. I've been absent enough already and missing another day would fuck me over harder than when the French tried to invade Russia in the winter."

Lexi stepped away from Kate and carefully approached Leon as to not startle him. Her facial expression basically screamed to the world that she was mentally preparing herself to scold Leon, but no harsh words came. Instead, she simply placed herself a couple inches away from Leon himself and murmured gently into his ear. From where she was standing Kate lacked the ability to hear what he had been told, but based on how tense his body had become it was quite obvious that it was something threatening.

"Well then", whispered Leon to himself as he leaned against the wall trying to avert his gaze from meeting Lexi's, "Now that that's done and Lex has passively aggressively manipulated me into doing her bidding, I think I'd be a good idea to haul ass before some pretty jock decides to bring some naïve freshman to fuck in this Shit Shack."

"Not quite yet Leon", giggled Lexi as she pulled out a neatly rolled blunt out of her pocket, "The day has just begun and it's begging to be fucked with."


End file.
